


What Lurks in the Night

by PinkLion7



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, But not slow burn, Canon Compliant, Gay, M/M, Slow Build, Sort-of, Vampires, sorry guys i'm really bad at tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:46:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22174282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkLion7/pseuds/PinkLion7
Summary: Winchester brother Sam and Dean are well-known for their hunting prowess. They seem to be immortal, defeating death again and again. Their very name strikes fear into the hearts of monsters.Castiel James Novak is a nurse. He's always been committed to helping people whether it be a sprained ankle or a bullet wound, he always tries to make sure his patients leave in a better state than when they arrived. But when a certain Dean Winchester comes under his care, will he be forced to choose between two sides of himself?
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a (mostly) canon-compliant Destiel AU. I wrote this a while ago but never actually got around to posting or finishing it, so I've decided to try again.  
> A stand-alone, italicized, underlined name indicates a POV switch.  
> Updates should happen at least once a month.  
> Chapters will probably be pretty short. I don't really have an ultimate goal for this fic, but whatever.  
> If you guys find anything wrong (i.e. grammar errors, someone is OOC) please feel free to notify me. I also take constructive criticism.

_Dean_

"Sam!" Dean called. "A little help here!" They were in Denver Colorado, dealing with what they thought was a minor case. A single vampire terrorizing a few city blocks. In actuality, it had turned out to be an entire nest, all holed up in an abandoned hotel. And while the brothers were used to dealing with these sorts of nasty surprises, it didn't make it easy. 

"Busy!" Sam called from across the hall. They'd been methodically clearing out the rooms for over two hours and it was getting a little tiring. Dean fired shot after shot, probably waking the neighbors, but still the monsters closed in. 

_Castiel_

On the other side of the city, Castiel worked the night shift at Denver Regional where he was a registered nurse. He loved his job. Otherwise a loner, Castiel would often comfort his patients, going beyond checking up on them and really making sure that they were doing well. The older patients loved to chat with him and the younger ones would always look forward to his jokes. (Not that they were any good, which is why they were so funny.) He was also a devout Christian, hoping to save his soul by dutifully going to church every Sunday and promising to pray for each of his patients. 

Said patients were all asleep now as he made his rounds. He was technically part of the night staff, but he was known for taking any and all overtime opportunities. The hospital was not only his living; it was his life. He had no close family to speak of, except an older brother, Gabriel. Gabriel lived in Las Vegas (a fact he was always boasting of) and worked there as a janitor. 

Gabriel was unlike his brother in every way, loud where he was quiet, short where he was tall, company on each arm every night whereas he... Though he'd never admit it, it wasn't that Castiel was unattractive. He was quite the opposite with royal blue eyes, messy black hair and a body like an angel's. Oblivious, his single co-workers had swooned over him for years and wondered how he hadn't been taken yet. The reason was, Castiel had been saving his heart his entire life. He just knew that there was a special, perfect woman out there that God had destined him for. 

He broke out of his thoughts to look in on Darla. She wasn't long for this world and as soon as her medical problems started her family had dumped her here, showing up only to discuss the writing of a will. He couldn't see why; Darla was kind and loved to talk to him about her grandchildren, even if the last time she'd seen them was five years ago. He knew that she would be happy in Heaven. 

_Dean_

"Dean, hey, you okay?" Sam asked for what had to be the hundredth time. Finally, they'd cleared the nest. It was hard, messy work and all Dean wanted was to get back to his crappy motel and fall asleep on the lumpy bed.

"What do you think?" He snapped, slapping at the Impala's radio with his good hand to turn it on. Guns 'n Roses started playing and Dean tried to forget about the pain he was in. He was guessing at a few broken ribs, a sprained wrist, and a minor concussion, at least. Dean had also earned himself numerous cuts and bruises, but thankfully no bites. 

Unsurprisingly, Dean was grumpy. He was staining Baby's interior with blood and Sam hadn't let him drive. His whole body hurt, he was tired and dirty, and he really wanted Sam to just shut his mouth for five goddamned minutes. Dean was so busy brooding that he didn't notice Sam's failure to take the correct exit until they were too late. 

"Sam..." Dean warned as he pulled into the parking lot of a large hospital. 

"Dean- I hate to say it, but some things can't be fixed with whiskey and sleep." Dean snorted derisively, because it was his opinion that all things could be fixed with exactly that. Sam put Baby into park, then got out. "Come on."

"Sam, drive back to the motel. Now."

His brother stayed standing stubbornly there. 

"I'm not getting out of this car unless it's parked in front of room 116."

"No. Come on, you're hurt."

"Sam, drive."

"Dean, get out."

"You can't kick me out of my own car!"

"Technically, it's my car. I had to register it after the first time you died."

Dean wanted to tear his hair out. He was so caught up in his frustration that he didn't see the fist that came flying towards his face with all the force of a concerned brother behind it. He just had time to shout and aggravated "Sam!" before he slumped down in the seat, out cold. It was a testament to his injuries that Sam was able to clock him so easily. _Good thing we're here already,_ Sam thought.

Castiel paused in front of the double sliding doors to observe the two men who seemed to be having some sort of altercation in the parking lot. Then he shrugged- it was probably none of his business.

A few minuets later, Sam dragged his brother to the front desk. 

A full hour after that, Dean woke to the sight of an angel (Dr. Sexy?) giving him an I.V. with Sam nowhere to be found. 

"Did it hurt when you fell?" Dean asked. 


	2. Chapter 2

_Dean_

"Did it hurt when you fell?" Dean asked. _Really, dude? That's the best you can come up with?_

"Hmm?" The nurse glanced up from Dean's wrist. Dean was struck by the man's eyes. They were a brilliant blue, framed by what could only be called "sex hair." Dean snapped out of it and gathered himself for another try. _It's probably just the meds,_ he thought, refusing to acknowledge that he had only just gotten and I.V. and had been out cold since the parking lot. "When you fell from Heaven. Did it hurt?" Dean shot him his most charming smile that he really hoped wasn't bloody. Dean hadn't actually expected the pickup line to work, but his nurse turned bright red and started coughing. Dean counted it as a victory. 

"Thank you, but I'm- ahh... Not interested?" He had a voice like a chain smoker, but Dean still found it adorable when the reply was phrased as a question. 

"Shame," Dean shrugged, confidently flirting even when in a hospital gown."Name's Dean."

He didn't know why he gave him his real name. If his brother had checked him in under an alias, he'd have some explaining to do. The nurse seemed to have gotten over his coughing fit and pointed to a whiteboard that was mounted on the wall. 

"Yes, I know. It says so there." Idoit, Dean chastised himself. "But if we're making introductions," he continued, "my name is Castiel."

Dean had to restrain himself from saying another crappy pickup line here. 

"So what did you do to give yourself four broken ribs, a sprained wrist, a concussion, and numerous lacerations?" Castiel asked. 

"Work accident," Dean said. He wasn't technically lying, was he? Something in him rebelled at the thought of lying to Castiel, even though it was in the job description.

Castiel's eyes brightened in genuine interest and he nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, what is it that you do?" Dean did mind, but Castiel had tilted his head and Dean liked to think he had good self-control, but-

"Family business." Again, not technically a lie. Was this man a siren? He hoped not, but it might explain a few things if he were. 

"I see." Castiel finished with the I.V. And went to scribble something on the board. "Well, I'm sorry. I'll pray for your quick recovery. Goodnight, Dean." He said, then left, shutting the heavy door behind him. Dean watched him leave and tried not to work out when he'd come back. An hour later, he fell back asleep to an old Western, something with Clint Eastwood in it that Dean couldn't quite remember the name of. 

_Castiel_

Castiel laid in his bed a few hours later, unable to sleep. It was nearing dawn and he simply wasn't capable of getting his mind off of his newest patient. "When you fell from Heaven. Did it hurt?" He heard Dean's voice, still rough with sleep, echo in his head for what had to be the hundredth time that night. He smiled. 

It had hurt, more than it should have, when he realized that Dean didn't want to share details with him. He knew it was childish and more than a bit nosy, but it didn't matter. Castiel considered himself easy to talk to and Dean had seemed rather extroverted, at first. But when he started asking about Dean's job, he almost turned into a different person. The summer-green eyes darkened and the smile lines faded into something heavier, speaking transparently of someone who had been through a lot.

But Castiel knew to leave well enough alone. He got patients like that, sometimes. They were usually veterans of one war or another, some with visible scars and some not. He sensed Dean was one of these people, and maybe his brother as well. He'd only met Sam briefly, but there was a certain... Wariness about him that Castiel couldn't understand. He resolved to pray for them both.

Belatedly, he realized that it was now 7:00am, and that he had volunteered for a shift at 5. (Nevermind that he had been working over twelve hours every day this week.) It wasn't that he wasn't tired, he was. By all accounts, he should be asleep. But tonight, every time he closed his eyes Castiel saw Dean's impossibly green ones smiling up at him. 

_God,_ he prayed in an attempt to clear his mind, _please speed up Dean's recovery, help Sam with whatever he might be dealing with, and please let me rest. God, thank you for bringing Dean into my care. Thank you for all of my patients. Amen._

Castiel had never actually received a sign from God, but he had been raised into astute Christianity by his parents and he saw no reason to abandon it. 

He had to believe that there was a god, that there was a plan. If he didn't, then what would he live for? Gabriel was his only living family and there were many qualified people waiting for his job. While it was true that he was thankful for each of his patients and wished them the best, "the best" often meant them leaving the hospital, in one way or another. If Castiel was lucky, he'd be just a passing blip in their radar. He had to believe that God had a purpose for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, there's chapter 2! There's a plot twist coming up, so I'm trying to make everything as normal as possible first. And sorry, that includes Castiel being as boring and hetero as possible. (Don't worry; there will be much gay later.) I'm not paying too much attention to when this would take place in canon, but I'm going for an earlier version of Dean to achieve a more carefree attitude, hope y'all don't mind. See you next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

_Dean_

Dean woke up to Sam sitting next to him and watching HGTV. "What, no flowers?" He joked. 

"Dean! Glad to see you're finally awake. I've been here for an hour." He glanced at the clock and realized it was already noon. "Figured you'd be hungry when you woke up, so I brought you these. Here." Sam dumped a grease-spotted bag of food on his lap and Dean lit up like a Christmas tree. "Two burgers, a milkshake, and some fries. But," Sam continued, "this doesn't mean I support your eating habits." Sam turned back to the T.V., where they were arguing over counter tops. 

"You know me Sammy, I'm here for a good time not a long time." Dean said through a mouthful of cheeseburger. Just then, the door opened. Dean hurriedly swallowed and wiped his mouth, expecting Castiel. Instead, a woman walked in. Blonde, curvy, pink scrubs, mid-twenties. Just the sort of woman Dean would go for if he hadn't already been thinking of a certain blue-eyed deep-voiced somebody. 

"Hello!" She chirped. "I'm Ashley, your nurse for today. You must be Dean!" She beamed at him, then turned to Sam. "And you must be Sam, the brother. Thank you for bringing him in." Surprisingly, Dean was already sick of her. 

"Where's Castiel?" Dean tried not to sound like a petulant child. Sam looked at him, confused. The nurse seemed to deflate a little. 

"He's off work right now, sorry." She told him as she began to take notes on his status.

"Do you know when Dean will be able to check out?" Sam asked, trying to relieve some of the awkward tension that had crept in. 

"Well, he was in pretty bad shape when he came in. I'm guessing the soonest would be around five or six weeks." Ashley explained. Dean sighed, but he wasn't too inconvenienced. A little time off could be nice, and he'd get more time to talk with Castiel. Ashley turned to him. "The good part is, you won't need any surgeries or muscle therapy, so the only hing on your calendar should be rest. Everything else is normal, so I'll leave to let you do just that." She patted his shoulder and walked out.

"Who's Castiel?" Sam asked suspiciously. Dean focused on his burger. 

"Just a nurse." He didn't want to give his brother any ideas. Sam didn't reply, but Dean could almost hear the gears turning in his head. In an effort to get his mind off it, Dean asked, "any cases?" Just like he knew he would, Sam took the bait.

"Okay, so get this- Hammonton, New Jersey. Something has been abducting local pets and returning them days later, horribly dismembered. Locals are blaming the Jersey Devil."

"Alright, any leads so far?" Not like he had to ask; Sam had the researcher's gleam in his eye, and wouldn't have stopped for a train. 

"We have one guy, Mikey Devon, who says he saw the thing snatch his pet goat." By now, Sam had laid a slim file on the stand next to the bed. He opened it and showed Dean a grainy picture that showed a small brown-spotted goat in the claws of... Something. It was hard to tell, but it seemed to have at least two legs and two red eyes. The picture could have been easily doctored, but they'd risked more for less. "Now," Sam continued, "there only seems to be one Jersey Devil, so I don't know if it counts as its own species of monster. It might just be a really nasty um- whatever."

"Sounds right up our alley. I just need you to get me a change of clothes-" Sam cut him off.

"No, Dean. I'm taking this case alone. Like Ashley said, you need to rest. When's the last time you took a vacation?" He asked.

"Sam, I don't know if you noticed, but we don't take vacations. We hunt things." Dean pointed to the file, lying open on the table next to him. "And that fugly sonovabitch right there? That's a thing." He argued.

"You couldn't even shoot a gun in the state you're in, Dean!" _Wanna bet, Sammy?_ "Now, I'm leaving. Don't break out of the hospital. I'll call you once I get to New Jersey." Oblivious to Dean's angry pout, Sam gathered up the file and left, shoes clicking against the linoleum. 

"Sam!" Dean finally shouted. It was no use. He tried to go after his brother, but as soon as he sat up and put pressure on his ribs, he collapsed back into the bed with a grunt of pain. "Goddamnit, Sam." He muttered. "You better keep Baby clean!"

_Castiel_

Castiel woke to sunlight slanting through the bedroom blinds. He looked at the clock on his nightstand and then the dusty blinds. _3:16pm_. He sighed, then moved to get out of bed. But as soon as his foot touched down, he felt... Paper?

It was a small, folded piece of notebook paper, half-out of his pants pocket. How had he not noticed that before? Castiel picked it up and unfolded it. There was a phone number, followed by the words:

_Hey, I know you said you didn't swing that way, but you seem like a great guy, and I'd like to keep talking to you._

-D.W.

It was written in pen, with the sloppiest print Castiel had ever seen (and he worked with doctors). Though the note was short, Castiel could almost hear Dean saying it, clear as day. He smiled, put the note on top of his nightstand, and went to take a shower. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well how was that? I'm aware that it's short and I know I'm making Dean into a (big)little bit of a dork here, but this fic isn't supposed to be some big long epic full of angst and character development. Things are already super sad and serious in the show right now, so I thought some dorkiness on Dean's part would be okay. Now, I know you guys might be getting bored with the way things are progressing in the story, but please stick with me just a little while longer- I promise something big will happen soon! See you all next update. :)


	4. Chapter 4

_ Dean _

"Son of a bitch!" He cursed. "'You seem like a great guy and I'd like to keep talking to you'?" _What are you, a schoolgirl?_ "He's your nurse, for Christssake!" Dean berated himself in the empty room. He dragged his hands down his face. _Okay,_ he tried to console himself, _best case scenario, Castiel loses the note before looking at it, Sam comes back to get me. Worst case scenario, Castiel walks-_ Castiel walked in. Dean innocently looked at the T.V., playing some kids' cartoon he hadn't put on. 

"Hello, Dean." Castiel greeted in that deep voice that made Dean (a battle-hardened, full-grown man) want to swoon. 

"Hey, Cas." Inwardly, Dean winced. First the note, now 'Cas'? 

"Are you feeling any better?" Oddly enough, he didn't seem to mind the nickname.

"Eh. The sooner I get out of here, the better," Castiel looked at him. "Usually, when I get hurt, I talk to Jack Daniels about it and take a nap." He shrugged. "But this time, Sammy just wasn't hearing it. But being a- an, uh, exterminator can get pretty dangerous sometimes." Dean couldn't seem to stop talking. It was horrible. 

Castiel looked interested. "An exterminator? Is that your 'family business' then?' He asked as he gently poked at Dean's ribs to check them. Dean tried very, very hard not to giggle. 

"Uh- yes, actually. Pests and nuisances of every kind, not including children." He smiled and Castiel frowned at the joke. "In fact, my brother's out working a nasty- raccoon case in New Jersey."

"That's a long way away. You and your brother seem must care about your jobs a lot." He said. Dean nodded. Castiel finished his examination and straightened up to talk to him. "I love my job here as a nurse, but my brother Gabriel works in Las Vegas." 

Dean hated small talk. As a rule, he was good at it (he had to be). But still, he hated it. He found it boring and useless anywhere but on the job. 

Cas, though, it was like the guy was a magnet. Dean found himself caring about what he said, committing it to memory for no reason other than he found it interesting. He wanted to listen to Cas talk, talk about anything.

Dean made a mental note to brush up on sirens. 

"Sin City, huh? Been there once or twice myself. Been all over, really. I even went to Ireland once." And Hell. Multiple times. Dean wasn't even trying to fight it anymore. He knew that if he tried to stonewall him now, Castiel would just get confused and leave.

"I've always wanted to travel, but I've never gotten around to it. The farthest I've ever gone from Denver is to visit Gabriel once. We grew up here, actually. But you must travel a lot."

"Oh yeah. Seven days a week, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year." They were getting into more dangerous territory now, but Dean couldn't find it in him to care too much. But before he could say anything else- "Shoot! I'm missing my rounds!" Castiel hurriedly stood up from the chair neither of them noticed he had sat down in and and turned to go.

Dean called out "Hey! When will you be back?" _No, that sounds too needy._ "I-uhh, lost the T.V. Remote." _Much better._ Castiel smiled indulgently. 

"I'm not surprised. But you'll have to wait until I've checked on the other patients. Goodnight, Dean."

He watched him leave, then pulled the remote out from under the pillows. 

_Sam_

In New Jersey, Sam walked into the room he had rented at The Farmhouse Inn. He slung his bag onto the stained linoleum table in the corner of the room, then collapsed onto the bed, which squeaked tiredly. Three days of driving and finally he was here. Saving people, hunting things, the family business. That's what he was here to do. Sam ran a hand through his hair. _I need to shower._ Monster hunter wasn't the cleanest profession, but self-care was a must. 

One long shower in a too-small stall later, Sam sat down at the ominously sticky table, spread out his research, and opened his laptop. Then, he picked up his phone to call Dean.

"Heya, Sam." Dean answered.

"Dean. Feeling any better?" Stupid question. Knowing Dean, he'd say 'yes' on his death bed. 

"Eh." Sam could hear the shrug in his voice. "I can't get decent food anywhere here," he griped. Sam smiled. _One thing that'll never change._

"I'm sure you'll live."

"Any word on the monster?" Dean seemed eager. He would be, cooped up in the hospital with only Ashley and Castiel for company. Sam opened the file and leafed through the papers, squinting in the dim fluorescents.

"Well, the myth of the Jersey, or Leed's, Devil is pretty old, dating back to the early eighteen-hundreds. There's a few different variations, but basically Mother Leeds, who may or may not have been a real person, had twelve kids. When she found out she was going to have a thirteenth child, she cursed it and said the it would be 'the devil itself.'"

"Harsh," Dean interjected."

"Yeah, well, thirteen was a lot even back then, and some legends say the Leeds were poor and the father was a drunkard. So. Anyways, it goes on to say that when she had the child, it was born human but soon turned into a kangaroo-goat-bat crossover thing, killed the whole family, and flew away. Since then, there have been multiple reports of something like it."

"Sounds mean. Let's kill it." Dean decided.

"That's what I'm trying to work on right now. According to the lore, it doesn't like bright lights or fire, but if worse comes to worst, then I could probably use the the demon blade."

"Just don't get hurt," Dean hated that he was stuck convalescing while Sam was out hunting monsters. 

"Yeah, yeah. See you."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

_Click._

Sam wondered if that nurse had come back. He didn't swing that way, but- he had eyes. Eyes that showed him that his brother, however much he denied it, was beginning to like Castiel. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another crap chap for y'all! Thanks for reading. A quick update about I'm Dyin' Here, Red - I have put it on hold. I know, don't give me that look, but I am dealing with some serious writer's block for that story, and I need some more time to sort it out, or at least distract myself by working on other stuff. But that's good news! It means more updates here. (Probably.) The next chapter will have something big in it- the big thing that this whole story is supposed to hinge on; so subscribe, bookmark, kudos, comments, I'll take anything. See you next update!

**Author's Note:**

> So what do you guys think? I've never done the narrative POV-switching thing before, so let me know if it gets confusing. Also, I'm currently working on another fic, I'm Dyin' Here, Red (Morstan) and it would be great if you gave that a read too. See you next posting!


End file.
